Based out of Mount Vernon, WA, Tim Mechling crafts a wholly idiosyncratic sound that features a gripping southern gothic character. Sinking into the release relays quite a cinematic experience, featuring locales of overzealous congregations, lonesome church bells, shifty graveyards, and lost loves. Mechling’s new album The Decline of the Flies and the Rise of Spiders is a thoroughly consuming listening experience.
Mechling says: “This album was recorded in a manic spree in my little house, and features violin and harmonies from Hannah Wyatt, some fuzzed-out electric guitar from John Swanke and the preacher’s monologue from Tad Kroening.”
The opening lyrics — “bury me in someone else’s clothes,” — aptly capture the album’s transformative qualities, evidenced by the ever-evolving “Death Rattle/Shadows Eat the Sun.” The ghostly folk sound plays with a haunting temptation, expanding into bustling rhythms and vibrant strings into the invigorating conclusion. On many of these album tracks the journey is well rewarded, and the opener shows that well.
The spine-chilling aesthetic continues throughout. “Early Retirement” traverses through a quivering duet, bolstered at the mid-point by weeping strings. Shades ranging from The Decemberists to Tom Waits peek through, though the sound is unmistakably Mechling’s. Further variety is evident on the psych-laden rock heat of “The Arsonist,” featuring a ripping guitar solo amidst the glowing organs. The Decline of the Flies and the Rise of Spiders is a continuously gripping experience full of weirdly invigorating charm.
Stream the album:
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“Early Retirement” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of September 2022’ Spotify playlist.
